Gaming devices (e.g., reeled slot machines or video poker machines) generate more than $15 billion per year in revenue for casinos in the United States alone. This figure accounts for more than half of the gaming revenue for a typical U.S. casino; additionally, high levels of popularity and revenue characterize gaming devices in establishments throughout Europe and Australia. Accordingly, casino operators are interested in increasing the enjoyment of playing slot machines.
Further, it would be beneficial to a casino to identify and implement new methods of encouraging a player already present in the casino to extend the duration of the player's visit at the casino or to return to the casino, and/or of encouraging other persons to visit the casino. This would, in many circumstances, maximize existing sources of the casino's revenue. Although casinos spend a great deal of money on advertising, some of the most effective advertising is learning about an exciting experience of a friend or family member at a casino. Additionally, the memory of a prior good experience at a casino is an effective incentive for a player to re-visit a casino. Prior to Applicants' prior invention, disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/176,765, no effective method existed for casinos to actively leverage such advertising opportunities.
A need exists to further enhance Applicants' previously invented methods of leveraging advertising opportunities for a casino, enhancing a player's enjoyment of playing gaming devices in a casino, as well as to identify and/or create new sources of revenue for a casino and to maximize existing sources of revenue for a casino.